


Wherever You Are

by marimoes



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Bittersweet, Canon Universe, Established Relationship, M/M, One Shot, Short & Sweet, Zagreus is trying to escape and Than isn't happy about it, aka their canon relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26689915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marimoes/pseuds/marimoes
Summary: The low tolling of a bell rings, making the ground grey with each step beneath him. It brings memories back with each chime; ones that he holds dear and also wishes he could forget. That would make all of this easier at least.“Back again?”
Relationships: Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 254





	Wherever You Are

With the chamber now empty, Zagreus stands before the doors. Their shining gold emblem does nothing to help him in his decision of moving forward towards his goal, but at least here in Elysium they’re surrounded by moss and flowers. A glimpse of life in a place supposedly void of it, and it makes these floors easier to stomach each time he climbs his eternal battle towards the surface. 

That, and something else that tends to lurk around these parts. 

Pushing against the wall, it shifts out of his way allowing him to move forward through the hall. When the once humid warmth of his surroundings pitches down into a chill that leaves his spine to straighten, Zagreus knows the choice he just made was far different than the last thirty.

The low tolling of a bell rings, making the ground grey with each step beneath him. It brings memories back with each chime; ones that he holds dear and also wishes he could forget. That would make all of this easier at least. 

“Back again?” Thanatos asks, voice forcing a gust of wind against Zagreus’ skin. It prickles in a sensation none would dare call comfortable. 

Zagreus flips the spear within his hand once. A terrible, nervous habit he picked up from his father that used it eons ago. One that his company is all too aware of. 

“That is how it goes, I suppose,” Zagreus replies, trying to keep his voice bright. He’s lost track of the times he’s been up here now, but it’s worth it just to reach her. “Have you decided to understand since last time?” 

Thanatos rests the end of his scythe against the ground, fingers curling against the handle tighter. His eyes are still shaded from his hood, but Zagreus can feel them piercing through him all the same. 

“What do you want me to say? That I wish you well? I can’t,” Thanatos says, taking a step forward and almost immediately takes it back. “You belong down here. It’s where you are supposed to exist. It’s where I—”

“I’m well aware of where I’m _‘supposed’_ to be,” Zagreus huffs, hands quoting into the air. “I’m also ‘supposed’ to have known who my mother was all this time. I’m ‘supposed’ to be able to know who I am like you do—like everyone else apparently does.” 

There is a heavy beat of silence between them, sitting in the flicker of the water that passes in the river that separates them. That’s all Thanatos has ever brought, Zagreus realizes, flipping his spear once more. Silence of death in a place drowning in it, yet it’s always been different. 

Thanatos has always been different. 

“Do you gain anything else by this? At least tell me that,” Thanatos says. This time he does walk forward, painfully so, step by step. He could drift against the ground like they all have the ability to do, but to choose this instead means he’s focusing. 

Humor jumps up in Zagreus’ chest, lurching him forward a step in kind. His mouth quirks with a smile that is more a reflex than it is a desire when he says, “I get to see you more often this way. I consider that a perk of sorts.” 

Thanatos stops abruptly, scythe holding him upright as he centers himself once more. He tugs against the fabric of his hood, letting it fall against his shoulders. 

His hair is brighter under the filtered light of Elysium, Zagreus thinks. Whether it is the souls of the damned or simply the green hue that kisses everything that rests here, it does him an abundance of favors. Zagreus might actually have to thank his father for something. 

“Seeing me?” Thanatos repeats incredulously. He again starts to walk forward, now nearing the end of the bridge set between them. When he reaches it, only feet from Zagreus, he pauses. “I could say the same.” 

The smile that was once unsteady on Zagreus’ lips is now firmly set. It isn’t just him, then, that cherishes these moments. 

“You’re too good for me, you know,” Zagreus sighs, hand running back through his hair as he tries to keep his voice steady. “I would ask you to come with me Than, but you’d say no. That’s how I know.” 

“I’ve already given you help I shouldn’t have,” Thanatos argues, trying not to look at the butterfly pinned against Zagreus’ tunic. “It looks good on you, though.” 

Zagreus shifts on his heels, forcing light against his chest to make the pin glimmer. “It is quite nice, though now I’m wondering why you held out on me for so long with it. Afraid to give me a token of affection?” 

This time it’s Thanatos that laughs. An odd sound, that to anyone else would likely send them praying to a god that isn’t listening. It is coated in a promise of death that should strike the same fear into Zagreus, but instead he feels something else—he feels drawn by it. 

The small gap is closed then by Zagreus, leaving the two immortals to stand in a proximity no one else would get away alive with. 

“I would think things I’ve given you before would be a better estimation for how I feel about you than a jewel encrusted pin,” Thanatos says quietly. Heat comes off of Zagreus’ body and pushes against the cold of Thanatos’, forming a small haze between them. 

Zagreus is moving forward before he can stop himself, settling into a place he knows just sure as his footing should be on a battlefield. His hand cups Thanatos’ face, pulling him to meet him without any resistance. 

His lips are cold, thawed only by his own the moment they touch. This lukewarm existence that they’ve always shared in a place of extremes. 

Thanatos’ scythe falls from his hand to float next to him as he returns the hold, piecing himself to Zagreus’ other side. There is an urgency behind his actions when he tugs Zagreus’ lip into his mouth. A silent plea for this moment to remain eternal like their surroundings.

Zagreus pulls away, begging to look anywhere other than straight ahead into the golden disappointment that stares at him. 

“I should be going,” He whispers, eyes flitting back to Thanatos’ mouth once before looking back up. Before he can take in the sight, lips are on his again. 

The pinch of the pin presses into his chest as Thanatos leans into him harder. Death is a certainty in life, shrouded by the unknown of when it will come. For Zagreus this isn’t a source of fear, as he has died before and will die again. 

But he is still afraid of death. 

He’s afraid that it will keep him in a way that it doesn’t others. A part of him knows it already does. 

When Thanatos pulls away, it comes with a gust of air that forces Zagreus back a step. He watches as the hood falls back over his reward for this chamber, chest tight as if he just finished battle. 

“Wherever you go, Zag, I will see you again,” Thanatos says before he disappears into a cloak of smoke and ice. 

Zagreus takes a deep breath, letting his head fall back against his shoulders when he exhales. He still has to battle the champions, cross the river, and face his father once more, but leaving this room might be harder than any of those things combined. 

The walk across to the other side feels emptier than it has any other time, and again before him stands two doors, leading him further on his endless quest. 

“Wherever, huh?” Zagreus whispers into the fleeting cold before pushing the next door open. 

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: noswordstyle  
> Twitter: @__moes__


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